1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an installation structure of a needle guard in a lock member attachment device, and more particularly to an installation structure of a needle guard which is provided on an attachment tool for attaching a tag suspending member having an escape preventing member at each end of a fiber in order to retain a tag indicative of price, quality, etc. on a merchandise such as clothing in a suspending manner, by using an assembly of the tag suspending member. Also, the present invention relates to an attachment device for attaching a lock member having an escape preventing rod portion which is disposed in a crossing relation at generally right angles with respect to one end of a fiber formed from soft plastics and a piece-like head portion disposed at the other end, and more particularly to an attachment device for attaching a lock member for retaining, in a suspending manner, a tag indicative of price, quality, etc. of a merchandise such as clothing.
2. Related Art
Recently, in the case where a tag indicative of price, quality, etc. is retained, in a suspending manner, on a merchandise such as clothing, a suspending member using a fiber material made of plastics, which is unable to cut off without a need of a cutter, was used, instead of a conventional thread, because of its workability of attachment. This suspending member is of the type in which an escape preventing member is integrally provided on each end of a fiber portion. Recently, a specific attachment device was used as an assembly in which the suspending member is arranged in parallel to a runner.
This attachment device is of a handy type whose grip can be grasped with its user""s single hand. In operation, a trigger lever is triggered to actuate a hollow needle which is attached to a distal end of the device and which is operatively connected to the trigger lever through an internal mechanism, thereby separating one of the suspending members loaded as an assembly from the runner. The separated suspending member is fed in synchronism with the piercing motion of the needle into the clothing, etc. so that a tag can be attached. The assembly is fed at a pitch of every suspending member by an internal mechanism. Since the hollow needle is preliminarily pierced into an objective matter, an escape preventing rod part is fed to the other side of the objective matter. Moreover, since the hollow needle is provided with a slit for allowing a fiber to depart therethrough, the fiber is separated, in the form of a single unit, from the attachment device. The connector member for connecting the runner is cut when it is pressed by the piston member.
Then, at the time of restoration to the initial state by releasing the trigger lever, feed means such as a gear, a claw member or the like is driven to feed one piece portion of the assembly and standby for the next operation.
In this conventional attachment device, the sharp needle is lef exposed even when the device is not in use. Therefore, there is such a risk that the human body and merchandise are pierced by the sharp needle. For the sake of protection, a protection cap was conventionally employed when the device is not in use. However, the protection cap is easily lost by missing. If a string or the like is employed for preventing the missing of the projection cap, operation is often interrupted by the string or the like. For this reason, it is also frequently occurred that the projection cap is unintentionally left unused.
It is customary that the runner is fed down, namely, in front of the user""s finger holding the grip portion after the suspending member is cut. Depending on angle, etc. at the time of use of the device, a projection remained after cutting the suspending member contacts the user""s finger, thereby providing pain and displeasure. To avoid it, several proposals were made for employment of a special guard member. However, any one of them required much elaboration and interference occurred at the time of storing the device when not in use. Moreover, the proposed device as a whole is degraded in outer appearance. In addition, the conventional lock member attachment device is sometimes sacrificed in precision. And the lock member is frequently clogged and the final press feeding operation by the piston member is degraded in reliability.
The present invention has be accomplished in view of the above-mentioned problems.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a needle guard installation structure which has a compact needle guard capable of making a pivotal movement, which needle guard is capable of receiving the needle so as to prevent the user""s finger from being injured when the device is not in use, which needle guard is pivotally moved so as to bee used as a member for guarding the user""s finger from a risky contact with a runner when the device is in use, and which needle guard can be fixedly positioned at each position by a stopper, and in which a used-up runner portion of a tag suspending member assembly can be prevented from scattering in the nearby area, and to provide a lock member attachment device for enhancing precision and reliability, providing a comfortable sense of operation.
To achieve the above object, there is provided a lock member attachment device including a needle guard installation structure comprising a needle guard having a pair of fork-like attachment pieces disposed at a basal portion thereof and a box-like needle receiving portion at least at an upper surface thereof, which needle receiving portion is disposed at a front portion of the attachment piece, the pair of attachment pieces of the needle guard being pivotally supported on an area near a front end of a main body casing, and at least one of the pair of attachment pieces being acted by a stopper, thereby retaining a predetermined position, the needle receiving portion having a cut groove formed in a bottom surface thereof, the cut groove being for restraining a discharged runner portion of a tag suspending member assembly when the needle guard is collapsed in use, so that a finger holding a grip of the main body will not contact the runner portion, the cut groove of the needle guard having a guide taper formed in an inlet portion thereof, the guide taper being adapted to guide the runner portion for easy setting, the needle guard being partly provided with a control portion for pivotally moving the needle guard, and the pair of attachment pieces being formed in a parallel-shape which is declined rearward and downward to form an obtuse angle.
There is also provided a lock member attachment device including a needle guard installation structure, wherein the stopper is of a slider type having a chevron shape at a front end thereof and being biased by a coiled spring, a side portion of the attachment piece being restrained by any one of the side portions of the chevron shaped stopper.
There is further provided a lock member attachment device including a needle guard installation structure, wherein the stopper has a front end connected to a part of the attachment piece and a rear end serving as a free end having a spring property, the stopper being integrally provided at an upper edge of the free end with a generally rectangular acting portion, any one of the side portions of the acting portion being locked to a lock pin projecting from the main body casing, thereby conducting a correct positioning a runner stopper having a spring property being disposed at an area in the vicinity of the cut groove, the runner stopper being for preventing a used-up runner portion of the tag suspending member assembly from falling down, a piston member pierced into a needle being actuated by an arm which is turned by a trigger lever and a feed mechanism for feeding, one by one, a loaded lock member assembly is actuated, wherein the feed mechanism comprises a pinion member engaged for rotation with a rack which is formed on an upper surface of a front end of a slider member which is tension biased by a spring and actuated by an arm, an elevating member on which a rack is formed and which is engaged with the pinion member, a feed claw member pivotally moved in accordance with action of the elevating member, and a stopper member, teeth of the pinion member being formed on a surface having a 180 degrees or less of a main body peripheral surface.
There is also provided a lock member attachment device in which a coiled spring for tension biasing an arm is supported on rings which are vertically arranged in symmetrical relation, the upper ring is eccentrically supported by a spring connector, and the coiled spring is twisted by tilting motion of the spring connector.
There is further provided a lock member attachment device in which a casing has a swollen slit preventing portion formed on a part of an outer surface thereof.
Owing to the above-mentioned constitution of the present invention, the structure is compact and simple. Merely by simple operation for actuating the stopper, a guard from the needle at the time of non-use and a guard from contact between the runner and the user""s finger at the time of use can be switched from one to the other. That is, the needle guard as a single member is always effective irrespective of use or non-use of the attachment device. The assembly of the lock member can be fed, one by one, accurately into the inlet port of the hollow needle by the feed mechanism and malfunction hardly occurs. Moreover, clogging of the lock member hardly occurs. The main coiled spring for biasing the arm is twisted so as to provide a dual motion. Accordingly, in the final stage for feeding the lock member by the piston member, a sense of click can be provided, thereby ensuring a more correct feeding operation. Since the attachment device of the present invention is provided with a slip preventing portion, it can effectively be prevented from slipping down from a desktop or the like when it is placed thereon.